Dean Meg

The next day after Hai Na made the headlines happened to be a weekend.

Hai Na went to Royal Law University for the first time in a long while.

Although it was a day off, there were still plenty of people on campus. After all, the Final Exam was only a month away. Even cramming at the last minute required some preparation.

Hai Na was not nervous in the slightest.

She had even put on her armor and equipped the short sword reserved for inspectors. Standing beneath the women's dormitory, she watched the students coming and going with a beaming smile.

"Good morning, Senior!"

"Senior Hai Na."

"Good morning, Senior Hai Na."

"Above us, Silver Crowned Dragon... May you be well, Miss Hai Na."

The younger students passing by, and even students in the same year as Hai Na, all came over to greet her politely when they saw her. Looking at Hai Na, who was so relaxed, the busy students could not hide their envy.

They were still working hard to prepare for the Final Exam, while Hai Na had already graduated ahead of schedule! What they could never have guessed was that Hai Na had done it deliberately.

She had not returned because she had anything to do.

She simply wanted to stroll leisurely around the campus while her juniors struggled with their exams.

It felt so good. Ah, so good.

It was as if all the fatigue and pressure accumulated while she had stayed up late preparing for the early graduation examination had been purified...

Royal Law University was not purely a school for supernatural beings.

It had one hundred and forty teaching buildings and six faculties. Only two of them taught students how to become supernatural beings, while another two primarily taught mystical arts from other Paths.

Those two faculties had only begun operating twenty years ago. Under the Queen's special authorization, they taught "forbidden arts" for the prosperity and development of the kingdom—alchemy, art, and preservation, for example.

The remaining two faculties existed to produce high-quality Civil Servants for Avalon. They had the largest enrollment, and most of their students were ordinary people.

The crisscrossing teaching buildings were practically a small town in their own right. Streets divided them into six large districts, each filled with all kinds of merchants and residents. Students could buy nearly anything they wanted without even leaving the university grounds.

Royal Law University's layout occupied a considerable part of the Red Queen District. As a result, people also called the Red Queen District the "University District."

Property prices here were extremely high—so high that Hai Na did not even dare imagine them.

The reason the central districts of the White Queen and Red Queen, the two Glass Islands, were so prestigious was that one could directly see the "Lake Within the Island." From the top floors of the teaching buildings, one could even see the Silver and Tin Palace glittering beneath the sunlight with the naked eye.

Here, one could encounter a knight almost every day simply by stepping outside.

The faculty Hai Na belonged to was the Individual Tactics Faculty. Although its students were supernatural beings, they still had to study cultural subjects.

This was a policy proposed by Her Majesty the Queen to improve the quality of supernatural talent.

It aimed to turn supernatural beings into governing talents who possessed supernatural power, rather than sources of chaos. There was no need to worry about how much authority to surrender to supernatural beings to placate them, because they themselves were the pillars of the kingdom.

For that reason, the academic pressure at Royal Law University was immense.

Iris Language, Stibium Language, Elven Language, Advanced Mathematics, Basic Theology, Modern History, and document writing were general education courses required by every faculty.

As for Hai Na specifically, she also had seven specialized courses: law, legal tactics, swordsmanship, aerial riding, battlefield command, Path identification, and equipment maintenance and battlefield treatment.

Besides that, she had to choose four elective courses.

She chose Applied Emerald Gemology, anesthesiology, Wine Brewing Production Management, and Animal Common Disease Prevention and Treatment.

Her studies seemed rather eclectic... but in fact, her motives were perfectly clear.

Hai Na had made flexible use of Royal Law University's formidable educational resources and the enormous collection of specialized books freely available in its library. Assuming that she might one day suffer serious injuries or even become disabled and lose her job, she had studied four subjects that could help her earn a living in advance.

At the same time, she did not know what might make money in the future. So she had studied four completely unrelated fields, striking here and there without any particular pattern.

Once she had established a foundation, making up the rest would be much easier.

Just then, Hai Na suddenly shuddered.

She instinctively sensed that someone had appeared behind her without a sound.

An overwhelming sense of terror seized her heart, and her eyes flew open. It was like facing a gale blowing straight into her face. She sucked in breath after breath, yet could not draw in even a trace of oxygen.

With her nerves stretched taut, she instinctively gripped the short sword in its sheath—

"—Morning, Hai Na."

A clear, powerful female voice rang out. "Hey, don't be afraid. Put it back."

With a clang, the short sword she had drawn a tiny distance slipped from her hand and slid back into its sheath on its own. It was as if her weapon refused to be drawn in this person's presence.

Only after hearing that voice did Hai Na relax and slowly release her grip.

"Dean Meg..."

How can someone this important appear without making the slightest sound? She scared me half to death...

She complained quietly to herself, then turned around, pressed her right hand to her chest, bowed her head, and respectfully saluted. "Good morning, Dean Meg."

Standing before Hai Na was a middle-aged to elderly woman with silvery-white hair, high cheekbones, and clearly visible wrinkles on her face.

Judging only from her skin and appearance, she looked at least forty or fifty years old, perhaps even over sixty. Yet her bright, piercing eyes, sturdy body, and resonant voice made her seem at least twenty years younger.

Dean Meg's most striking feature was her high, solid shoulders. They bore powerful muscles that even a young man devoted to bodybuilding would struggle to possess, stretching the loose clothing into obvious bulges.

"Ahahahahaha!"

Meg laughed heartily.

Her laughter was clear and booming. Even from dozens of meters away, her voice could be heard distinctly. "I knew it—gave you quite a fright, didn't I?

"But you did well, Hai Na! A few months ago, you wouldn't even have noticed my presence when I put my arm around your shoulders. Now you can sense me merely approaching from behind. That means those months of training really did help you improve!"

This could be considered one of Hai Na's humiliations.

A few months earlier, she had applied to graduate ahead of schedule. Because her grades were exceptionally good, she had been brimming with confidence. Her early graduation had also attracted Dean Meg's attention, and Meg had personally come to witness Hai Na's graduation examination.

At the time, she had appeared behind Hai Na just as silently as she had now. But Hai Na had not noticed her at all.

She had not even felt it when Dean Meg leisurely untied her necktie.

Meg had not entered stealth. Rather, she had caused Hai Na's brain to "dare not become aware of her existence."

It was the power of Authority, forcibly altering cognition like calling a deer a horse.

Now, at least, Hai Na could sense danger—

Although Dean Meg had certainly not been serious, it still proved that Hai Na had grown.

After Dean Meg appeared, the surrounding students visibly began to thin out.

There had originally been quite a few people around Hai Na, but now a huge empty space had opened around them.

This was not merely reverence for a school leader.

It was also because the aura of the Path of Authority radiating from Dean Meg was intense and unmistakable. Those ranked lower on the same Path simply did not dare approach.

This vigorous-looking old woman was one of the strongest people in the world.

She was the Grand Arbitrator, Meg, deputy head of the Arbitration Hall.

She possessed the supreme privilege of executing direct members of the royal family.

The reason she was the "deputy" head was that in Avalon, deputies were stronger than principals in a certain sense. Principals had a maximum term of office, while deputies did not.

Meg had been deputy head of the Arbitration Hall for twenty years. The head had changed seven times, once every three years, and each one had been her student.

Even during the succession to the throne, Meg had to be present as a witness.

After the New King ascended the throne, Meg would be the third person to swear allegiance to him. The first would be the Minister of Military and Political Affairs, who controlled the army and foreign intelligence agencies. The second would be the Knight Commander of the Round Table Hall, who also served as Privy Council Minister. The third would be Meg.

The rest of the royal family would come after the sixth position.

Simply standing beside old Meg made Hai Na's heart ache with fear.

It was as if the kindly and hearty old lady standing before her were not a grandmotherly woman at all, but an adult lion standing within arm's reach.

If I turned and ran, I would probably fall. My legs would stiffen from fear.

She had once intervened in a war through her own strength alone.

Twenty years ago, Avalon Kingdom had fought a brief war with Iris Flower Kingdom over border clashes. It was known as the Ten Day War.

When Meg arrived at the battlefield, she needed only one sentence to make the soldiers on both sides sheathe their swords and lower their guns.

She had carved a Peace Boundary into the borderlands. Anyone who considered themselves a "soldier" could not cross it. When they approached the boundary, they felt overwhelming fear and were intimidated into complete immobility.

The boundary existed for four years before gradually fading. After relations between the two countries improved, it instead became a famous tourist attraction commemorating the brief war that had lasted only ten days.

Hai Na was naturally not Meg's student. She was not qualified.

Sherlock had once been invited to become Meg's personal disciple—but he refused.

The old woman had not forced him. However, after that, she stopped accepting new students.

It was said that she had recently begun preparing to retire from her position as deputy head of the Arbitration Hall. This was an open secret at Royal Law University, because the new deputy head would be their young Headmaster.

That Headmaster had also once been Dean Meg's student.

"You made the papers, didn't you?"

Old Meg scrutinized her, raising her eyes as she asked with unclear intent.

Hai Na was extremely nervous. She lowered her head and did not dare look up. "Yes. I was lucky... I didn't really do anything. It was mainly Mr. Iver..."

"—Oh, 'Mr.'"

The old woman repeated the title with a knowing smile. "You respect him quite a lot."

Hai Na jumped and held her breath, unsure how to respond.

"There's no need to be embarrassed. You did the right thing. Yanis told me about him."

Meg's voice rang out like tightly clenched steel. "The more powerful person's correctness is more correct. Whether you are his senior or his elder, you were inferior to him in this matter. Therefore, you followed his orders. That is entirely in keeping with the philosophy of the Path of Authority."

Only then did Hai Na relax.

Being acknowledged and encouraged by a highly respected elder filled Hai Na with confidence. It was as if the entire world before her had brightened, and her body had grown much lighter.

This even gave her the courage to ask first, "May I ask, Dean Meg... did you come here to find me?"

"Yes."

Meg laughed candidly. "Isn't that obvious?

"You're a good child—hardworking and serious. But you're still a little foolish."

For Hai Na, who had graduated a year early while maintaining perfect scores in every subject, Meg had nevertheless given the evaluation "a little foolish."

Hai Na felt somewhat dejected.

She knew she was far inferior to Sherlock... but she did not know how overwhelmingly gifted Sherlock was in comparison.

She knew nothing about the students in the years before Sherlock—what sort of prodigies they had been. They had all become mid- or high-level officials, and their past identities had been sealed.

Seeing her expression, however, Meg's lips curled slightly, and she offered rare reassurance. "Still, we royal blades who walk the Path of Authority do not need to be particularly clever.

"Let me ask you—you're aware that the Pelican Bar has been shut down, right?"

"...Yes."

It makes sense that it was closed.

Hai Na thought to herself.

It had been the meeting place of the Noble Red Society, a group of illegal supernatural beings. Surely they had not gathered there to discuss Iris literature and Elven poetry?

"Then do you know that your roommates often went to the Pelican Bar?"

Seeing Hai Na's sudden shock, Dean Meg raised an eyebrow and added, "Tell me the truth."

"—Not often," Hai Na blurted out, "but they did go there."

She realized almost at once that she had leaked information.

But before an upper-ranker of the Path of Authority, she had no secrets at all.

"Did they invite you?"

"They invited me once, but I refused. After that, they stopped inviting me."

"Oh."

Meg said meaningfully, "No wonder you didn't know."

Didn't know... what?

"Do you know what they went to the Pelican Bar to buy?"

"Buy what...?"

Hai Na was confused.

"They went to buy cosmetics."

Meg gave her the answer directly. "Powerful cosmetics made by the alchemists of the Stibium Kingdom. They can make the skin of someone in their thirties or forties look as tender as that of a teenager. Though if you ask me, they're nowhere near old enough to need such things. Still, it is perfectly normal for girls to be interested in them.

"Stibium's Youthful Appearance Potion also sells very well. Although its side effects cause physical weakness and obvious muscle loss, some of my students still use it despite my repeated warnings."

...Ah.

Hai Na suddenly understood.

So that's what was wrong!

She had always thought the noble young ladies of the capital had impossibly tender, pale skin, as if one could squeeze water from it. They all belonged to the Individual Tactics Faculty and practiced swordsmanship and riding regularly, yet they had no calluses on their hands, and their thighs showed no sign of chafing. Their waists were slender and soft, without the slightest trace of muscle.

Hai Na had thought they were simply more gifted, and had even felt inferior for a while. She had believed she looked too rustic, with a body like someone who had done farmwork, and that she built muscle too easily.

Now she finally knew.

They had taken potions!

"—Do you have anything to say?"

Just then, Dean Meg gazed at her deeply, interrupting Hai Na's thoughts.

Her mind suddenly went blank.

What... what was I about to say?

But the next moment, she faintly caught on to something.

"The Alchemy Products of the Stibium Kingdom should be illegal, shouldn't they?"

She murmured, "Then they're contraband... I understand. That's why they stopped inviting me. They knew I had no money.

"...No, wait. Isn't the Pelican Bar the gathering place of the Noble Red Society? Why could contraband Alchemy Products be bought there?"

She suddenly jolted and realized what was happening. "The Noble Red Society is connected to the smuggling case? No, wait—they're connected to the Stibium authorities?"

"Not entirely foolish."

Old Meg nodded in satisfaction.

At last, she got to the real matter. "Our spies in Stibium sent back important intelligence—"

"Wait, hold on. Am I qualified to know this...?"

Hai Na had keenly sensed the intense danger and muttered hesitantly in a voice only she could hear.

Meg completely ignored Hai Na's sudden cowardice and continued speaking. "A shipment of powerful, compact Portable Alchemy Bombs was transported into Avalon. The target should be Glass Island.

"The power of this batch of bombs is enough to blast the entire Red Queen District into the sky. We had been unable to trace how they entered the country. But since the day before yesterday, while investigating the Pelican Bar... the Inspectorate discovered that the bombs had been transported in through the Pelican Bar.

"The merit you earned is far greater than you imagine."

Meg's gaze was as sharp as a falcon's.

She laughed heartily and patted Hai Na on the shoulder.

"So, I'll give you a chance.

"This matter is being investigated by both the Bureau of Supervision and the Arbitration Hall. Normally, your Bureau of Supervision wouldn't have access to something like this. But whether it's you, Sherlock, or that Iver, you've all piqued my interest.

"I'm giving you temporary authorization. Go investigate it. If your director has anything to say, tell him to come to me. Bring along any consultants you want to invite, and give him whatever you need—I'll reimburse you. It's fine if you can't find anything; I'll take responsibility.

"I want to see whether I misjudged things several months ago. If you manage to uncover any important information before we resolve this matter..."

Meg said meaningfully, "I still have a spot for a final disciple... I could save it for you."